National Conveyancing Week 2025 Blogs - Conveyancing vs. Horse Racing: The Unexpected Similarities Between Legal Transactions and the Race to the Finish Line

National Conveyancing Week 2025 follows Cheltenham Horse Racing Festival the week before. Here are some unexpected similarities between the two!

• It's necessary to have a good trainer who will make sure the conveyancer is able to fulfil their duties in a conveyancing transaction and look after and care for them in order to achieve full knowledge and maintain a peak performance in their role.
• Both the conveyancing process and horses and their jockeys require structured, step-by-step processes that must be followed carefully. In conveyancing, it’s about the legal process with strict protocols, checking and approving contract papers, raising/replying to enquiries and meeting deadlines. Then completing the transaction and dealing with post completion formalities.  In horse racing, there are similar structured procedures from the preparation of the horses, the running of the race, and then post-race activities to ensure that the horse is looked after and post-race cooling down both physically and mentally.
• The success of a conveyance transaction depends heavily on preparation - gathering all necessary paperwork and co-ordinating everything correctly. For a horse to be successful in a race, it depends on its training, the care it receives, and how well it’s prepared for the race.
• In conveyancing, the stakes are clear - ensuring that all obligations of the transaction are fulfilled.  In horse racing, financial stakes are high due to the betting aspect, with people putting bets on the outcome, and the legal and contractual obligations that come with racing.
• There is an element of uncertainty in both conveyancing and horse racing.  With conveyancing, there could be unexpected issues with the title. In horse racing, even the best trained horse can lose due to factors like the ground conditions, injuries, or unforeseen circumstances during the race.
• In Conveyancing it involves multiple parties - buyers, sellers, solicitors, estate agents, brokers, all working to reach a final goal. In horse racing, this of course, involves multiple competitors (the horses), but it also includes jockeys, trainers, and owners, all with different interests and roles. 

Despite their differences - conveyancing being a legal process and horse racing being a sport with betting and competition, the two share similarities in their structure, risk, careful preparation and skill required to ensure a win/completion!